As a former Defensive Player of the Year, Joakim Noah was projected to be the anchor for the Knicks’ defense. Even with another reshuffling of the personnel deck, many envisioned Noah as leading the Knicks from their recent doldrums to defensive status worthy of a catchy nickname, like “Bad Boys” or “Steel Curtain,” and not the thus-far appropriate “Swiss Cheese.”

“I’m trying to figure it out,” Noah said Saturday. “There’s no question. It’s been really up and down. I think that’s kind of like my role on this team. Some nights it’s going to be my night, sometimes it’s not. At the end of the day I just have to be consistent with my effort and be consistent and try to bring something positive to this team.”

Noah was felled by injuries in previous seasons — he played 29 games last season and 67 in 2014-15. Coach Jeff Hornacek has gone easy with the workload — in four of 12 games Noah has not played 20 minutes while in eight of the 12 he has not reached 23 minutes. There are other factors, Hornacek said.

“We always knew he’d be out there and could give us that defensive aggressiveness. The energy, we knew we had capabilities with some of our other players,” said Hornacek — citing Kristaps Porzingis, Kyle O’Quinn and Willy Hernangomez as backup centers. “We don’t really look at how many minutes like, ‘Oh we have to keep him to this number for the long haul.’ We just look at it as ‘Does he have the energy out there, are the other guys doing well? Can we go to a small lineup a little bit?’ I think he’s doing great.”

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Noah knows people are watching him. He just shrugs and reminds of an undeniable Basketball 101 tenet: It’s a team game.

“Good defensive teams are tied together,” Noah said. “It’s not a question of one guy. If one guy doesn’t do his job then the defense looks bad. That’s the way it is. Everybody has to be on the same page.

“It’s an adjustment. But at the end of the day we have to not let frustration creep in. We definitely have a lot of work to do. If we focus on our progress as a team then we’re going to be all right. But if we start splintering because of taking ‘L’s and stuff like that, it’s going to be a long year. If our mindset stays on our work, we’re going to be all right.”

The Knicks have been 1-5 on the road but 4-2 at home. The home strength gets tested by Atlanta on Sunday.

“They’re playing a lot faster, just like most teams now,” Courtney Lee said. “They’re stretching the floor, shooting the 3-ball. And they’ve got Dwight down low to help.”

Kristaps Porzingis announced Saturday that for every one of his blocked shots, he will donate $500 to the Ben Jobe Educational and Scholarship Fund, part of RENS Youth Basketball program.

Porzingis met with about 100 inner city kids at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem Saturday to announce the “KrisStops” initiative to benefit third-eighth graders in tutoring and SAT preparation. Last season, Porzingis’ 134 blocks would have meant $67,000. He has 14 blocks in 12 games this season.